> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://lightdash-docs-many-to-many.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# An intro to metrics and dimensions

## What are metrics and dimensions?

Metrics and dimensions are defined in your dbt project alongside your dbt model properties.

* **Dimensions** are used to **segment data** in your Tables.
* **Metrics** are used to **perform calculations** on your Tables.

Say we're running an ecommerce business, we probably have a table containing all order data. We might want to ask:

![](https://mintlify.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/lightdash-docs-many-to-many/images/get-started/exploring-data/data-question-fcb8af7318d2ac3fbc99c7332cbd4fc6.jpg)

This question can be answered using a single metric "the total number of unique orders" and a single dimension for splitting the metric by "status of order". In Lightdash you'd get the following chart:

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintlify.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/lightdash-docs-many-to-many/images/get-started/exploring-data/metric-on-bar-chart-7ee3b21168033d15be62c95cd94c7853.png" alt="two metrics on a bar chart" />
</Frame>

To learn more about why we use dimensions and metrics in Lightdash, [read the Lightdash approach to BI](/best-practice/lightdash-way).